The annual games development conference E3 is over for another year and it looks like “motion control” is going to be the next battleground in the console arena. Microsoft and Sony have both announced new control peripherals that take the idea popularised by the Wii to the next level.

Microsoft’s offering is called Project Natal – an odd codename for what looks like a stunning piece of technology. It’s based around a camera that tracks the players motion but the real power is in the processing behind it that allows game characters to mimic the player’s movements in real time – think running, dodging and moving on screen objects around with your own motions.

The interesting thing about Natal is that it’s appears to be full body motion tracking combined with face and voice recognition, which allows for a huge range of possible applications. If it lives up to the demo, the  proverbial “Minority Report” interface may indeed be just around the corner – but you’ll need a large clear space around you when you fire up Tekken!

This video shows the shape of things to come